Dan J. Stein

Dan Joseph Stein is Professor and Chair of the Dept of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town,[1] and Director of the South African MRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders. Stein was the Director of UCT's early Brain and Behaviour Initiative,[2] and was the inaugural Scientific Director of UCT's later Neuroscience Institute.[3] He has also been a Visiting Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the United States.

Stein giving a public lecture in Sport Science Institute of South Africa, September 4, 2013

Education

Stein trained in psychiatry, neuroscience, and philosophy. He studied medicine at the University of Cape Town, including an intercalated undergraduate degree with majors in biochemistry and psychology. He later trained in psychiatry, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the area of psychopharmacology at Columbia University. He subsequently completed doctoral degrees in both clinical neuroscience and in philosophy at Stellenbosch University.[4]

Interests

Stein is interested in the psychobiology and management of the anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and related, and traumatic and stress disorders. He has also mentored work in other areas that are of particular relevance to South Africa and Africa, including maternal mental health, neuroHIV/AIDS, and substance use disorders.

Stein's work ranges from basic neuroscience, through clinical investigations and trials, and on to epidemiological and public mental health research.[5] He is enthusiastic about the possibility of clinical practice and scientific research that integrates theoretical concepts and empirical data across these different levels.[6]

Having worked for many years in South Africa, he is also enthusiastic about establishing integrative approaches to psychiatric services, training, and research in the context of a low and-middle-income country.[7]

Contributions

As Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, Stein has led a broad range of work to improve psychiatric services, training, and research.[8] Under his leadership, the Department has grown to become one of the leading Departments of Psychiatry in the low- and middle-income world, and has been ranked in the top 100 globally.[9] He also led the University of Cape Town's Brain-Behaviour Initiative,[10] which in turn provided a foundation for its Neuroscience Institute, the first on the African continent.[11]

Stein has also contributed in important ways to psychiatry in South Africa. Soon after returning to South Africa from New York, at a time when the country was holding its Truth & Reconciliation Commission to address trauma perpetrated during apartheid, he initiated the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Unit on Anxiety & Stress Disorders. The Unit undertook basic neuroscience research on anxiety, initiated brain magnetic resonance imaging and neurogenetics research in the country, and conducted the first nationally representative community survey of mental disorders on the continent.

Stein work has extended to other countries on the African continent; he has initiated and supported a range of collaborations with and fellowships for African scientists. The Neuro-GAP study, for example, has brought together researchers from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, to work on the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Stein was the founding President of the African College of Neuropsychopharmacology, which together with its sister Colleges such as the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, falls under the umbrella of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Stein has also contributed to global psychiatry in a number of ways. He has played a leading role in several global research collaborations, ranging from work on neuroimaging (e.g., the Enhancing Neuroimaging by Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) collaboration) through to work on psychiatric epidemiology (e.g., the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys). He chaired the workgroups of both the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the 11th edition of the International Classification of Disorders (ICD-11) on obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Both classification systems included a new chapter on these conditions with the aim of improving diagnosis of these commonly overlooked conditions around the world.[12]

Taken together, Stein has influenced the field of psychiatry by collaboration (across South Africa, Africa, and the world), by mentorship (his mentees have worked on a range of topics relevant to South Africa and Africa, and they occupy leadership posts in a number of areas including addiction psychiatry, child health, liaison psychiatry, neurogenetics, neuroimaging, neuropsychiatry, public mental health, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy), and by publication (he has been ranked as one of the most cited anxiety disorder researchers globally,[13] and his Google h-index is more than 150, one of the highest of any African scholar).[14]

Writings

Stein has authored or edited over 40 volumes. These reflect his broad interests, including volumes on clinical neuroscience (e.g., “Cognitive-Affective Neuroscience of Mood and Anxiety Disorders”),[15] on clinical disorders (e.g., "Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders"), and on global mental health (e.g., "Global Mental Health and Psychotherapy"). They include a number of widely used textbooks, including the "Textbook of Anxiety Disorders",[16] and the "Textbook of Mood Disorders". For a detailed list, see his author page at Amazon.[17]

Stein has contributed hundreds of papers and chapters, again covering a broad range of topics. These include papers in leading journals in science, medicine, and psychiatry, as well as chapters in key textbooks of psychiatry. For a detailed list of publications, see Google Scholar[18] or ORCID.[19]

Problems of Living

Stein has integrated his interests in psychiatry, neuroscience, and philosophy in his volumes on “The Philosophy of Psychopharmacology: Smart Pills, Happy Pills, Pep Pills” and "Problems of Living: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Cognitive-Affective Science".

Psychiatry raises some key “big questions”, both about the nature of the mind (and mental illness) in particular, and about the nature of life (and mental suffering) in general. "Philosophy of Psychopharmacology" addresses some of the “hard problems” faced by mental health clinicians, with a particular focus on philosophical issues raised or addressed by advances in psychiatric medication.[20] "Problems of Living" looks at a range of “hard problems” raised by life as a whole.[21]

"Problems of Living" received several positive reviews:

"Dan Stein's new book is an engaging and courageous piece of writing that raises fundamentalquestions about the nature of mind and brain. It examines how to live a fulfilling life and becontented, despite the paradox of, on the one hand feeling our lives are central to the world, and on the other, that we are just one of many species… Stein investigates the mechanisms that underliereason and passion, from a philosophical and psychiatric perspective. There are key implicationsfor psychiatric and psychological practice, public mental health and societal flourishing. Hisprimary source material is rich, and he communicates a sense of awe and of wonder about ourprecious and transient lives, as well as a synopsis of a more authentic and progressive scientificaccount of the mind and brain wetware. All trainees and students of subjects related to the mindand brain should read this book, as should those specialists working daily in health and socialsystems and public mental health. The book busts many myths simply by sharing what we knowabout the brain and mind, which is a great deal, but it also is clear on the limitations of ourthinking." --British Journal on Psychiatry

"Problems of Living must be acknowledged as one of the most remarkable achievements to whichhis (Stein's) already acclaimed accolades attest. It is an excellent example of what can be achievedin terms of interdisciplinary work, when this work is the outcome, not of a dilettante, but of a truespecialist in different fields – in this case psychiatry, philosophy and neuroscience… What thisreviewer appreciated more than everything else, is Stein's conviction that the traditional 'big'questions of philosophy – What is the relation between reason and passion? Is there any sense inpain and suffering? How can we distinguish between good and bad? When are we dealing withtruth? What is the meaning of life? – are not only still valid, but can be approached from a varietyof the interdisciplinary perspectives, and that significant (or at least notable) progress can be madewith such an enterprise, without any claim that all questions have been definitively or adequatelyanswered… Whether the journey metaphor is the most appropriate for our understanding of life,remains to be seen. There can, however, be no doubt that reading Stein's book is a journey througha masterpiece. It is one of the most enriching experiences that this reviewer has had in a longtime." --South African Journal of Science[22]

Awards

Stein’s work has been continuously funded by extramural grants for more than three decades, including a range of funding from the National Institutes of Health. He is a recipient of several national and international awards, including the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology's Max Hamilton Memorial Award for his contribution to psychopharmacology, the South African Medical Research Council's Platinum Award, and the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry's Lifetime Achievement Award.[23]

References
  1. "UCT Dept of Psychiatry\accessdate=2019-11-10".
  2. "UCT Brain and Behaviour Initiative". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  3. "UCT Neuroscience Institute". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  4. "Lancet Psychiatry". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. "Dan Stein Google Scholar". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  6. "Integration of clinical neuroscience and global mental health". Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. Gillis, L.; Robertson, B. A.; Zabow, T.; Stein, D. J. (2012). "Psychiatry in South Africa". South African Medical Journal = Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Geneeskunde. 102 (6): 449–51. PMID 22668933.
  8. "Lancet Psychiatry". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  9. "USA News". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  10. "Brain Behaviour Initiative". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  11. "Neuroscience Institute". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  12. Stein, D. J.; Kogan, C. S.; Atmaca, M.; Fineberg, N. A.; Fontenelle, L. F.; Grant, J. E.; Matsunaga, H.; Reddy YCJ; Simpson, H. B.; Thomsen, P. H.; Van Den Heuvel, O. A.; Veale, D.; Woods, D. W.; Reed, G. M. (2016). "OCRDs in ICD-11". Journal of Affective Disorders. 190: 663–674. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.10.061. PMID 26590514.
  13. "Expertscape". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. "H-Index".
  15. Stein, Dan J. (2002). Cognitive-Affective Neuroscience of Depression and Anxiety Disorders. London: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 1-84184-100-5.
  16. Stein, Dan J.; Hollander, Eric; Rothbaum, Barbara O. (2010). The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Anxiety Disorders, 2nd edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub. ISBN 978-0-88048-829-7.
  17. "Dan Stein Amazon Author Page". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  18. "Google Scholar page". Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  19. "Dan Stein ORCID". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  20. "Classical-Critical-Integrative". Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  21. "Problems of Living". Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  22. "SAJS". Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  23. "World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry Lifetime Achievement Award". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
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